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dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. I found it to be slow paced for the first portion, but once the plot began the pacing improved. The language wasn't as inaccessible than other classics I have read, but still full of large descriptive prose regarding nature that I thought was unnecessary and repetitive at times. My biggest issue was how the "love triangle" aged, having Jane choose to marry either a man "old enough to be her father" or her cousin
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I had never read Jane Eyre all the way through until now. Such a beautifully written book - Charlotte Bronte’s writing is so evocative, and there are so many gems of dialogue between her characters. The reader is attached to Jane Eyre from the start, a reliable and worthy narrator of her story.
Note: There is definitely some expression of views towards race within this book which is unfortunately not uncommon in books written during this time period/within English literature. It’s a shame as it is not at all relevant or necessary to the plot of the book.
Note: There is definitely some expression of views towards race within this book which is unfortunately not uncommon in books written during this time period/within English literature. It’s a shame as it is not at all relevant or necessary to the plot of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide
Minor: Racism, Antisemitism
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Incest, Sexism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism, Racism, Antisemitism
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is so perplexing that I literally don't know how to rate it. It's by far one of the most interesting classics I have read (likely due to the heavy dialogue and use of first-person), but it's far more chaotic than I would have ever expected. I have no idea how people label this as an iconic romance because I saw very little good things about the romance. I'd label it more as a coming-of-age/mystery (??) novel than a romance.
I will fault the book in that a lot of the story involves "telling" rather than "showing", particularly the 8 year time jump that's summarized in about 2 paragraphs. Some parts were done really well and others weren't in my opinion. I also found that occasionally my mind would wander as I read, and sometimes I had a hard time staying focused.
I didn't really understand the use of St. John at the end- especially the fact that the story ends by speaking about him. I'm still not really sure what the commentary on Christianity was meant to be, considering that both religious men we meet in the book are quite awful to Jane (and just in general). I know that there were examples of good Christianity and bad, but I wasn't really sure what I was meant to take away from it.
An additional note is that I enjoyed seeing the different levels of class and how it was addressed in the book. During that era, even servents were treated on different levels (usually based on education) and I do find that an interesting thing to examine.
Also, re: the romance. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a psychopath. The g*psy scene is so bizarre and he acts so clingy to Jane that it made me uncomfortable at times (and that's excluding the fact that he locks his mentally ill wife in an attic). I understand that I'm reading the book with a 2021 lens, but I don't understand how the book was ever looked on as romantic.</spoiler
Overall, I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre. I can't say that I'll actively choose to re-read it, but I'm happy to have gotten through it.
I will fault the book in that a lot of the story involves "telling" rather than "showing", particularly the 8 year time jump that's summarized in about 2 paragraphs. Some parts were done really well and others weren't in my opinion. I also found that occasionally my mind would wander as I read, and sometimes I had a hard time staying focused.
An additional note is that I enjoyed seeing the different levels of class and how it was addressed in the book. During that era, even servents were treated on different levels (usually based on education) and I do find that an interesting thing to examine.
Also, re: the romance. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a psychopath. The g*psy scene is so bizarre and he acts so clingy to Jane that it made me uncomfortable at times (and that's excluding the fact that he locks his mentally ill wife in an attic). I understand that I'm reading the book with a 2021 lens, but I don't understand how the book was ever looked on as romantic.</spoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, Abandonment
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're interested in England during the Victorian era, then I would recommend that you read Jane Eyre at some point. The values and morals of the English people during this time are made quite clear through the eyes of Jane, in both the way she perceives herself and the way she perceives others.
It wasn't really a book after my taste as I'm not much of a romance reader, and my taste in books is quite different to this one. I enjoy fast-paced, plot-driven stories, and Jane Eyre is a slow-paced novel that is mostly character-driven. We follow Jane through a portion of her life and we get to know the people and the environment around her during this time. I could enjoy this book if I had related to Jane more, but I felt quite distant to her most of the time, despite this book being formatted as an autobiography.
It wasn't really a book after my taste as I'm not much of a romance reader, and my taste in books is quite different to this one. I enjoy fast-paced, plot-driven stories, and Jane Eyre is a slow-paced novel that is mostly character-driven. We follow Jane through a portion of her life and we get to know the people and the environment around her during this time. I could enjoy this book if I had related to Jane more, but I felt quite distant to her most of the time, despite this book being formatted as an autobiography.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship